With the jawbone of an ass

[Zeno]

And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith. And Samson said, " With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men". Judges, Chapter 15, Verses 15-16 (KJV).


Samson, that strong man of action, appears to lack a certain civility and paucity in moderation that so infuses the more settled mind and cultured outlook of a civilized being. But that would undoubtedly make him a less interesting character and his comic book story, so slap-dashed into the Book of Judges, would have much less appeal and propaganda value for the Sunday School Teachers to bamboozle their young charges. But I am wondering from the point of my post – If there is one, which I am being to doubt.

It was with befuddled amusement that I perused recent posts about the need, or lack thereof, of a moderator for the politics forum, his role, power and function outlined, and all the subsequent reactions that ran the usual gamut of posts found on this forum - from the well thought out and reasonable and civil to the more incoherent, prattling and diatribe type.

I was under the impression that we were already being moderated by the higher powers that run this insalubrious site. Perhaps that was just a well-meaning hoax, a noble lie, and a faked providence, to hoodwink the more credulous to behaving in a salutary manner toward their fellow man. It’s all been done before, and to better effect and in bigger venues than this one.

Does a civilized being need a ‘moderator’? This is a much larger question than it may first appear. And requires the jawbone of an ass to get the correct answer.



The Master said: “ A gentlemen brings out the good that is in people, he does not bring out the bad. A vulgar man does the opposite.” - Confucius

But perhaps Confucius was just a fool, a dotard teacher of silly notions and meaningless rituals, and a babbling old fart with nothing worthwhile to say and all in the wrong tongue to boot.

“It is a good rule in life never to apologise. The right sort of people do not want apologies, and the wrong sort take a mean advantage of them. – P. G. Wodehouse.

Is this better? Words to live by?

-Zeno 'The Unmoderated' [Title of my new screen play, under consideration by Oliver Stone]

[MMMMMM]

My mother told me the true story of her great-great-great grandfather, who was a preacher.

He had spent an entire week agonizing over how to tell the story of Samson, that being the sermon he was scheduled to preach next Sunday morning.

In that age, actually having to say "ass" in public would have been a fearful and mortifying prospect for almost anyone, let alone for a preacher.

He finally reached an ingenious and satisfactory solution, though, by determining to replace the word "ass" (in the phrase "with the jawbone of an ass") with the word "horse". Of course. How simple, how elegant. "With the jawbone of a horse". How elementary.

He practiced a bit the next Sunday morning, early, alone, and got himself well-prepared for the impending occasion.

Nothing, however, could have prepared him for what actually occurred.

He confidently proceeded to tell the assembly the story of how Samson slew a thousand Philistines "with the assbone of a horse".

[ptmusic]

You read about Samson, all from his works,
He was the strongest man that ever had lived on earth.
One day when Samson was walking along,
Looked down on the ground, he saw an old jawbone.

He stretched out his arm, God knows, chains broke like thread,
When he got to moving, ten thousand was dead.

If I had my way, if I had my way, if I had my way,
I would tear this old building down.

- Samson and Delilah, traditional, (arranged by Bob Weir) /images/graemlins/smirk.gif

[Cyrus]

With handles in <font color="green"> green </font>all around me, I feel a little like the Matt Damon character in Rounders who finds himself playing poker with cops.

[AngryCola]

[ QUOTE ]
With handles in <font color="green"> green </font>all around me, I feel a little like the Matt Damon character in Rounders who finds himself playing poker with cops.

[/ QUOTE ]

Considering the size of these forums, there really aren't that many moderators.

[BruceZ]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
With handles in <font color="green"> green </font>all around me, I feel a little like the Matt Damon character in Rounders who finds himself playing poker with cops.

[/ QUOTE ]

Considering the size of these forums, there really aren't that many moderators.

[/ QUOTE ]

I can think of a couple players who need to be taken out to the parking lot for a good beatin'.

[FishHooks]

haha yea I agree with that one

[Zeno]

[ QUOTE ]
I can think of a couple players who need to be taken out to the parking lot for a good beatin'.

[/ QUOTE ]

With the jawbone of an ass; I would assume. /images/graemlins/smirk.gif

-Zeno

[John Cole]

Zeno, do civilized beings need moderators? (You've never worked in academia, have you?) Here's the start of a meeting with three representatives from the English Department (I'm one of the cooler heads) and three members of the administration. The academic dean opens by addressing one of my collegues: "The English Department is the worst department in the college, and you, Barbara, are the worst of the worst."

All sorts of fun ensued.

[John Cole]

Went a bit like this: "Samson took a jawbone out of the grass and slew the Phillipinos." I'm going to save your story for speech classes.

[Zeno]

[ QUOTE ]
(You've never worked in academia, have you?)

[/ QUOTE ]

Not in the official grand manner. When I was a graduate student, I did do three years of teaching, attending meetings and other official functions, and also interacted in a close manner with many professors. So I was exposed to the darker underbelly of academia, including the perennial administrative heartburn. Enough so that I refused to pursue a PhD, even thought twice urged to do so.

A professor that I learned much from, a very wise man that received his PhD from Cal Tech, related many stories for my benefit and amusement about meetings and political shenanigans indulged in by the academic community. One was telling: yet another meeting was being held (professors and administration people) about some insignificant goings on that required some departmental decision when a women cosmologist spoke up, having finally reached the end of her patience, and announced that everyone in the administration were dolts and that she could have settled this issue with one firm decision, instead of all these infernal meetings that took up valuable time. She then simply left the meeting, saying she had more important matters to attend to than sitting around a table discussing nonsense and eating doughnuts with a bunch of idiots. I have no reason to doubt that the gist of this story is quite true. So I can quite believe your 'all sorts of fun ensued" comment.

So the ‘moderator’ issue is, as usual when humans are involved, somewhat of a conundrum. Moderators are required for the vast majority of people, which is one reason, among a variety, that humans developed governments, religions, and other intrusive and farcical, but necessary, organizations and institutions. I think.

-Zeno

[John Cole]

Zeno,

More that the gist is true; the dean's words are quoted exactly (I think the quote figures in the the various lawsuits that have stemmed from the meeting). Usually, I've been the moderate voice in the department, and his little jab wouldn't have offended me. I would have said he spoke of me in superlatives.

One former professor once told a colleague at a meeting, "Karen Ann Quinlan has more on the ball than you do!" Such poor taste, and I'm ashamed to repeat it.

[Cyrus]

[ QUOTE ]
I can think of a couple players who need to be taken out to the parking lot for a good beatin'.

[/ QUOTE ]

Me and you alone in a parking lot is a swell idea.

I'm sure we would work out our little differences pretty quickly.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I can think of a couple players who need to be taken out to the parking lot for a good beatin'.

[/ QUOTE ]

Me and you alone in a parking lot is a swell idea.

[/ QUOTE ]

Kick his ass Seabass! /images/graemlins/grin.gif